A Better Life
by OrionsArtemis
Summary: Series of drabbles on Ryli in her youth.
1. Sixteen

Ryli pushed her short black hair out of her eyes, gazing at the sky. The stars seemed to twinkle and she sighed happily from her perch in the tree. _Someday, someday I'll do nothing but fly a ship up there._

"Ryli!" a voice called from far away. She ignored it. "Ryli!"

The stars called to her, she felt. There was something more out there, something she was supposed to do. Her life would never be planet bound again soon.

"Ryli!" her twin stared up through the branches at her.

"Go away, Imina," she said.

"What happened today?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You're never in the tree unless something happens."

"I'm always in the tree."

Imina started to climb herself. Ryli sighed.

"Ry, there's blood on your clothes..."

"I'm fine, 'Mina." She was the strong one. Her delicate sister with the long hair and the smile that had every boy in the settlement crushing on her couldn't deal with today, not after everything else. "I got the shuttle passes."

Nima's face lit up. "So we're out of here?"

"Yup, we're gone. Shuttle leaves tomorrow."

"Oh Ry..." Her face fell, "What'd you do to get them?"

"Whatever it takes, 'Mina," Ryli said, her voice not allowing further discussion.

"Ryli, you don't always have to protect me. I've got to be able to protect myself someday."

"I'll always be with you, so you're fine." She looked over at her sister, her eyes soft. "Don't worry."

"I do worry though. You're all I have, Ry. Don't go too far, okay?"

Ryli's eyes froze and knew she couldn't keep the coldness from her voice. "There's no such thing as too far to get out of here, 'Mina."

They sat silently on the branch together.

"So where are we heading?" said Imina excitedly.

"Coruscant, actually," grinned Ryli as Imina squealed.

A female voice bellowed their names from far away. They both flinched involuntarily.

"One more night," murmured Ryli.

"Let's spend it in the tree! To say goodbye!"

Ryli smiled at her sister and reached over, tucking a strand of Imina's hair behind her ear.

"We can't do that."

Imina sighed and scooted over to lay her head on Ryli's shoulder, "Happy Birthday, Ry."

"Happy Birthday, 'Mina."

The blood lay heavy on Ryli's shirt and pants, but she looked at the stars and dreamed of a different life.


	2. Nineteen

Ryli slammed her hand down on the counter, getting the immediate attention of the clerk.

"Where's my sister?"

"Excuse me?"

"My sister. I left her in the room. Where is she?"

"If she looks just like you, some Imperials hauled her off not too long ago."

Ryli blanched, "Why would they want her?"

"I have no idea." The man shrugged, not really caring.

"Which way did they go?"

"I don't keep track of Imperials and if you have any sense, you won't either."

Ryli dashed out into the street, but there was no sign of any Imperials or Imina. She sat down hard on the sidewalk, tears starting to stream down her face.

"Hey there, pretty thing, can I help you?" a human stopped and smiled at her kindly.

"My sister," she mumbled.

"Why don't you come get cleaned up?"

She froze and tilted her head up towards him. "Sure," she slowly nodded. "Let's do that."

His credits got her a lead on the direction the Imperials had taken Imina, but the trail went cold at the slavers.

Ryli stood, her shoulders squared and her heart racing, thinking about how as a pair, they'd be much more exotic to slavers. She could go down and turn herself in, find her sister.

_Forgive me, Imina. _ _I can't do it. I can't be a slave._ For the last time that day, Ryli put her head in her hands and cried.


	3. Twenty

The blade slid along the man's skin, blood appearing in beads along the cut. Ryli watched, entranced then shook herself. This was the job, not something to dwell on. _You make a place in yourself and you go there, where this is just the job._

She was good at what she did, hired for it specifically.

Some of them hired her specifically because they got off on watching her work, but she tried to not think about that too closely.

"I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

"That's perfect, then." She smiled kindly, knowing that made it worse.

As the man spilled his guts, the people in the shadows recording his every word, Ryli zoned out.

There was an obscene amount of credits in her account right now. Almost enough for a ship.

Once she had a ship, she could find other jobs; she could forget this life.

She ran her finger along the edge of her knife. She could shed the name she'd taken and take back her real name. No one would put the two together.

She ran her eyes over the edge of the blade, hypnotized by the very thought of the future.

"Am I done? Can I go?" said the man breathlessly.

She came back to herself abruptly. A smooth voice over her headset told her they got what they wanted.

"Oh, right. You're done." She went away to the back of her head as the blade slid across the man's throat. _A ship with a bar,_ she thought.


	4. Twentyone

"You look like you could use a meal."

"I could use a drink first."

"Comes with the meal."

Ryli nodded slowly. "Alright."

"Don't see many spacers here."

"I just got a ship."

The woman's eyebrows raised. "Why would you fly it here?"

"Seemed far enough away from everything."

"I'm Jenra."

"Andreana."

"That's the worst fake name I've ever heard."

Ryli's head snapped back, "Excuse me?"

"You don't say it like it's yours. You want to sell a lie like that; you have to believe it for the moment you are speaking it." Jenra nodded once, "Order some food. I'd like a ride off this place if you're taking passengers."

"Hadn't really thought about it."

"So start." Jenra turned away, "What can I get you?"


	5. Twentytwo

"That's right," said Jenra, "Fighting with a knife is much different than just going in to do some precise slicing." She eyed her speculatively, "Where'd you learn to do that anyway?"

Ryli just snorted and concentrated on the movements, on building her strength.

Jenra sighed, shook her head. "At some point, I'm going to need to know."

"No, you won't," came the cold answer.

"Ryli, look at me. Really look at me." Ryli's eyes met hers slowly, almost warily. "How long have we been traveling together and you still pull shit like this? Your crew is your family. The only family you'll ever have again."

Ryli blinked, her eyes pooling with tears that she quickly dashed away. "I'm done for today," she said, heading back to the ship.

Jenra stopped her and pulled her in for a hug. "I don't know what happened to you, but we're family now. Stop walking away from me." She pulled back and looked down at Ryli, "You remind me of my daughter. So angry at the whole world for what it had done to her. But the world hasn't done anything to you. Everyone has troubles. Yours aren't special. The people you share your life with are special."

The tears slid out of Ryli's eyes and she was sobbing into Jenra's shoulder.


	6. Twentyfour

"Damiar," Ryli said, "I said I didn't want to."

"And I said I didn't care."

Ryli sighed, shuffling along the walkway.

"We're family; you help family right?"

"Right," Ryli echoed, remembering Jenra saying the same thing. This felt different, though Ryli couldn't put her finger on why.

"C'mon Snap Pea," he said, pulling her against him roughly by the shoulder, making her stumble, "It'll be fun. You told me you used to do this kind of stuff before."

"Well, yeah, but I gave it up for a reason." She felt a pang at having trusted him with the knowledge.

Damiar paused on the street and cupped her chin, tilting her head back to kiss her. "I can't think of anything more beautiful than watching you do this."

Ryli let him kiss her, even more uncomfortable than before. She thought of the men in the shadows while she worked, the things that went on there that she pretended didn't.

"No, I'm sorry. I can't do this." She reached up to smooth her ponytail back. "I _can't_."

"You will," said Damiar in that slow, dangerous tone. "You'll do this for me. Because you don't want me to get hurt."

"You got yourself into...hurk." She choked as Damiar grabbed her by the throat.

"They will kill me, Ryli. This is the only way out." He kissed her tenderly. His eyes glinted, "Or should I call you, Andreana?"

"This isn't one of your games." She shook him off and continued. He wanted to see her in action, let him.

They made it to the warehouse quickly and Ryli slid her short blade from her bicep sheath. The man tied to the chair was not young and her breath caught. Damiar paused to kiss her again, his eyes lighting up when he took in the scene. He headed over to greet some of the men in the shadows and Ryli forced the tears back in her head, trying to find the place she used to go that made this just the job.

"I'm sorry," she murmured to the man. "You can't know how much." Her breath caught then and she began.

Afterwards, Damiar was making love to her against the wall, having been driven to a fever pitch watching her. His murmured declarations of love fell heavy on her ears. She was empty, not making a sound, still in the spot back in her head where this was something she did, not something she was.


	7. Twentysix

Somewhat blurrily, she caught sight of the most _gorgeous_ Zabrak she'd ever seen. She lifted herself up off her seat and made her way over to him. He caught sight of her and lifted his eyebrows.

"Hello, love," he said. "How can I help you?"

"Well, I just figured since we were both sitting alone, we might as well keep each other company."

"Is that so?"

She nodded, sliding into the seat next to him. She smiled slowly, sensually. "So what brings you to Hutta?"

He leaned in, with a twinkle in his eye and whispered, "My boyfriend."

She sighed and put her head on her hand, facing him. "Funny, I'm trying to get away from mine."

He reached over and took her arm. She noticed blearily there was a bruise on her wrist that the Zabrak was now running his fingers over. "I've been there, love. Did you need some help?"

"I don't think so, unless you want to go play in your room for a bit."

He looked amused, still stroking her wrist. "Sorry, gorgeous, you're not my type, but I'd still be willing to keep you company right here." He signaled to the bartender. "I'm Juran. It's an absolute pleasure to meet you."

She hesitated, even this far into her cups. "I'm Ryli," she finally said. "It's nice to meet you too."


	8. Twentysix again

Juran was screaming something and Jenra was snapping short comments as well before her footsteps took off around the side of the ship. From outside the ship came the enraged voice of Damiar. Ryli knew there was something she was supposed to be doing, but the metal of the floor was so cool and nice. She blinked; there was blood on her hands. _Oh no, please no, who did I hurt this time? Or, am I hurt this time? It's right, he says, it's right because I'm so good at my job, I need to know what it feels like. _She brought her hands up to her face in wonder. _Was my blood always this color? I see it so rarely. Why do I let this happen? Because he says he loves me? _

"You ever touch her again and I'll put you on the floor," Juran was screaming.

"Juran," she tried to whisper, but her throat hurt so bad. She felt him drop beside her.

His voice was anguished, furious, loving all at once and she reached out for him. "Ryli, you deserve so much better." His words made her want to cry, but she didn't know why.

"Do I?" She felt him gather her up into his arms. "I've done such terrible things." Her head was starting to clear.

"We love you Ryli, be done with this." His voice was in so much pain. _Did I cause that pain?_ Her thoughts gathered.

"I think I _am_ done with this." She managed to sit up and felt the soothing balm of kolto on her throat. "I just wanted... someone."

Jenra said quietly from behind her, rubbing more kolto on her back, "You have us."

"I'm sorry," Ryli croaked.

Jenra put her arms around her from behind and the three of them sat like that for awhile on the floor of the ship.


	9. Twentyseven

"But I don't understand," said Ryli plantively.

"You don't need to understand, Ry." Jenra sighed. "You don't need me anymore, but this resistance, they do need me."

"How can you say I don't need you? You're part of my crew! My family!"

"And sometimes family grows up and moves on, like you should be doing."

Ryli's eyes narrowed, "What is this really about?"

"I told you. They can use someone like me to train their fighters."

"When did this life become not enough for you?"

"It's not that," Jenra reached out to put her hand on Ryli's head. "You needed me once, needed me fiercely. Can't you understand that now others might need me as bad as you did?"

"Of course, but why can't you come back to the ship when you're done?"

"Because I need to move on, Ry. You need me to move on. And you've got Juran."

"Jenra," she whispered, "Please don't leave."

"I'm going. It's not goodbye, you can come visit whenever you want."


End file.
